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Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Beethoven Sonata in C minor, Op. 10, no. 1 - finale

The exposition starts out in c minor with the left and right hands playing in unison. They're in unison for pretty much the entire first period from measures 1-9. It's both parallel and symmetrical containing a HC and a PAC. Measures 9-17 seem to hint at 2 two-bar phrases that make a period, but then there is a long extension of a sixteenth note scale pattern that crescendos into a HC at measure 17. Following this, there is a direct modulation to the relative major, E flat. Starting in bar 17, there is a parallel symmetrical period with an HC followed by a PAC. Then there's a terminative closing section to the exposition which sounds like a repetition with variants of the last phrase. All of this repeats before we move on to the development.

Bars 25-38 sounds like the entire development section to me. There's a lot of tonality changes going on. The same general structure is kept from the exposition, only there are many variants on it.

38 to the end is the recapitulation. From this point until bar 54 there is a near exact repeat of the first period of the entire piece. The runs are changed a little, but other than that I don't see any other changes. 54-80ish is the recap of the second period of the piece. It modulates back to c minor toward the end of the first phrase of this period. Then from 80 to the end we have the closing section. It sounds a lot different than the rest of the piece, primarily because it's really soft and slow compared to everything that was going on earlier. It's all a variant on the second group motive. After a fermata, the last two lines of the piece are suddenly forte and back up to tempo.

i dont think those sections are correct. The development is always after the double bar line because the composers are most commonly seen repeating the exposition to give the audience another chance to listen the main theme of the song.

Hi! I have made an analysis for this piece too in my Forms and Analysis Class and this is what I presented:

Sonata in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 1PrestissimoLudwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven's opus 10 no. 1 is the Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor. It is dedicated to Anna Margarete von Browne. The first movement of the sonata has a 3/4 meter, the second movement 2/4, and the final movement 2/2. Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 5 is a first period composition, anticipating more notable C minor works such as the Pathétique Sonata and the Fifth Symphony in its nervous energy.

The sonata is divided into three movements: 1. Allegro molto e con brio in C minor 2. Adagio molto in A flat major 3. Prestissimo in C minor

The first movement, in sonata form, opens energetically with contrasting loud and soft phrases. A 24-measure modulating passage provides a quiet contrast before arriving at the second theme in E-flat. In the recapitulation, the second theme is initially in F major before returning to C minor.

The second movement is a lyrical Adagio with many embellishments. It is in A-B-A-B or "sonatina" form (there is no development section, only a single bar of a rolled V7 chord leading back to the tonic key); an apparent third appearance of the main theme turns into a coda.

The third movement is a highly nervous piece in sonata form, making heavy use of a figure of five eighth notes. The coda slows the tempo down, leading to a final outburst which fades to a quiet but agitated C major.

Questions for discussion:

1. This movement is in sonata form. However, there is one feature of the form, usually present, which is absent in this movement. What is it and what is the effect of its absence?

A transition is usually present in every sonata form. In this movement, a transition was absent in the Exposition and Recapitulation. It is the element in which the composer in sonata form modulates from the key of the principal theme (mm. 1-16) that will lead to the subordinate theme (mm. 16-37). But some composers during the Classical Period move straight from its principal theme to the subordinate theme without any transitions.

An abrupt entrance of the subordinate theme occurs due to absence of this element. The usage of a half-note with a fermata made it sound as a brief introduction to the next theme.

2. Locate by measure number each of the component sections of this movement.

The exposition was patterned from the principal theme of the composition. A coda is not found the Development section of a sonata form but instead on the Recapitulation.

4. Examine the rhythmic motive of mm. 55-57. Can you find a precedent for this motive earlier in the movement? Where else does it occur? Can you think of another work in which Beethoven employed this motive?

5. Describe the phrase-period structure of the first eight measures.

The first eight measures (mm. 1-8) is a period. The antecedent starts from its tonic in m. 1 to a dominant on m. 4. It is a half-cadence. It continues to a consequent on a dominant in m. 5 and finishes to its final cadence on m. 8.

6. Identify by Roman numeral the chords which occur at the following points:

8. Would you describe the overall texture of this movement as (a) highly homophonic; (b) highly polyphonic; (c) alternately homophonic and polyphonic?

Homophonic music is defined as a music in which harmony is chordal and not made up of distinctive lines. In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice (monophony) or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords (homophonic).

I believe that this composition is highly homophonic for the reason that there is a prevalent appearance and usage of chords. Two parts move together in harmony, where the relationship between them creates chords. This is distinct from polyphony, in which parts move with rhythmic independence, and monophony, in which all move in parallel rhythm and pitch. I can also consider this as a melody-dominated homophony wherein one voice plays a distinct melody, and the accompanying voices work together to articulate the harmony.